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※ 本文轉錄自 kulinomi 信箱

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Requiem for a Lin
http://ppt.cc/Oew2



We probably should have been more suspicious of Jeremy Lin's knee injury
than we were. For the past week or so, we didn't blink when coach Mike
Woodson said "if" Lin comes back, when the Knicks kept Lin away from the
press for a few days, when Lin was being scratched from the lineup earlier
and earlier each day. We guess we just didn't want to believe it. But it's
true: Jeremy Lin isn't coming back.


我們原本應該對Lin的膝傷抱持更加質疑的態度。過去一星期以來，我們對
Woodson表示不清楚Lin「是否」能重返球場、尼克連續數天讓Lin遠離媒體、
Lin的名字越來越快從出賽名單上消失等種種跡象視而不見。我們僅僅是不願
相信事實：Lin不會回來了。


Some frayed knee cartilage is what ultimately ended Linsanity, and we
won't see him again this season unless the Knicks somehow win a first-round
playoff series, assuming, of course, they actually make the playoffs.
(Which is far from assured.) We could lament the injury frustrations, the
now-gaping-again point-guard-hole, the fact that we're gonna spend the last
month of the season watching Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, and Baron Davis
running isolations every time down the court, but there will be plenty of
time for that. Right now, we just want to reflect on what we have lost.


膝蓋軟骨的磨損導致Linsanity就此落幕，除非尼克設法贏得季後賽第一輪
──當然是在假設尼克擠進季後賽的前提下（很難保證會發生）──觀眾
本季將無緣再見到他。大家可以開始悲嘆球隊遭遇的傷病問題、再度出現的
控球後衛大洞、賽季最後一個月都得耗在觀看Carmelo Anthony、J.R. Smith
及 Baron Davis一再前場單打的事實，不過以後還有很多時間去想這些。此刻
，我們只想審視一下我們失去了什麼。


We've been covering sports for New York Magazine for almost four years now,
and Linsanity, without question, was our favorite story to cover. For those
loopy, ascendant two weeks — and it was essentially a fortnight, starting
on February 4 against New Jersey and peaking with that February 19 win over
Dallas on national television — we had everything you could possibly want
from an athletic endeavor. We had the "new": A scrappy kid coming out of
nowhere. We had the "underdog": Ignored, undrafted, and left for dead in
the D-League, Lin was proof that talent can be found (and missed) anywhere.
We had the "inspiration": An Asian-American kid succeeding on his own terms
in the grandest possible way. We had the "giddy novelty": He went to Harvard
.. and did you see that pregame handshake?


我們替紐約雜誌撰寫體育報導已將近四年之久， Linsanity毫無疑問是我們
最喜愛報導的故事題材。在那如旭日初升的瘋狂兩星期裡──從2月4日對戰籃網
開始，在2月19日的國家電視網上戰勝小牛達到顛峰──我們擁有過你對體育競技
所追求的一切。我們有「新鮮」，一位原本籍籍無名的年輕鬥士；有「沒人看好
的哀兵」，屢受忽視、選秀落選、被拋棄到發展聯盟……Lin證明在任何地方都
可能挖掘到（或錯過）某些才能。有「鼓舞人心」，這個亞裔美籍孩子以他獨特
的方式獲得最絢爛盛大的成功。有「令人暈眩的新奇」：他是哈佛畢業生……
而且，你看到他的賽前握手小儀式了嗎？


The best part, to our mind, was that Lin was tough. We don't just mean the
crunch-time mettle, though he of course had that in abundance; post-surgery,
you could put him out on crutches and we'd still probably want him taking the
last shot. We mean that he was physically punished every game — particularly
once he became the focal point of every opponent's defensive strategy — with
consistent bashes across the head and neck. Lin seemed to get at least one
bloody nose a game ... and yet he never stopped driving the lane, and he
never stopped getting back up. Lin was absolutely fearless. Maybe to make it
to this level in so unlikely a fashion ... maybe you have to be.


在我們心中，最美好的部分是Lin展現的堅韌不拔。這裡的意思不單指在關鍵
時刻的大心臟，當然他絲毫不欠缺這種資質。即使Lin在手術之後拄著拐杖上
場，我們依然想叫他負責最後一擊。他的身體每場比賽都遭受各種衝撞──
特別是自從成為每一隻對戰隊伍的重點防守目標後──經常被對手重擊頭部和
頸部。Lin看來每場比賽至少會流一次鼻血……更別說他從不停止切入，從不
停止摔倒在場上又爬起來。Lin絕對無所畏懼。或許像這樣傾盡全力去打球一點
也不符合流行風潮……或許身為一名球員本該如此堅強。


Lin made the Knicks come to life, but what he did to the Garden was even more
thrilling. Knicks fans have been so desperate for something to cheer for in
the post-Isiah era that they've been willing to talk themselves into
anything, from Chris Duhon to Anthony Randolph to, more recently, the
pretend-land game that Carmelo Anthony was a lifelong New Yorker who just
selflessly wanted to return home. They have waited because, when it is
humming, when it is connecting with the city in a viral, subconscious way, no
sport in this city is as great as basketball when the Knicks are winning,
when the Knicks matter. Much of this fan hope has been unwarranted and
unrequited; after all, the Knicks still haven't won a playoff game since
April 29, 2001. There's a reason much of the rest of the NBA hates Knicks
fans. Knicks fans are so famished for success, for something to cheer about,
that they can sometimes take up a disproportionate chunk of the league's
psychic energy.


Lin喚醒了尼克，但他為麥迪遜花園廣場所做的甚至更加令人興奮。尼克迷這麼
絕望地渴求在後Isiah時代找到一點可支持的目標，不惜用任何話題來說服自己，
從Chris Duhon到Anthony Randolph，一直到最近的虛假夢幻仙境──
Carmelo Anthony終身是一名紐約客，僅僅無私地希望重返故鄉打球。他們等待
多時，因為當蜂鳴器響起宣布開賽，當籃球與這座城市如病毒擴散般以潛意識的
方式連結在一起，當尼克打出成績，紐約其餘任何職業運動都不像尼克拿下勝利
時一樣美好。

大部分球迷的冀望始終得不到保證及回應。畢竟，尼克從2001年4月29日以後從未
贏過一場季後賽。許多其他NBA球迷討厭尼克迷自有其緣故，尼克迷如此渴望勝利
，如此渴望為某些事物歡呼，導致他們有時不成比例地大量佔據聯盟的關注焦點。


But Lin, Lin was different. Lin wasn't some sort of Jim Dolan hype-creation,
a Faustian bargain, the best we could do so we might as well cheer. Lin was
entirely ours, a sudden creation, a firestorm that somehow lived outside the
normal Knicks dysfunction. We were discovering Lin, and he was feeding off
Knicks fans — and the Garden frenzy — as much as they were feeding off him.
Nobody fired up the Garden like this kid. Even after Mike D'Antoni left and
some of the shine was inevitably rusted by MSG madness, and of course
Carmelo, Lin didn't go away. He secured himself as the team's top point guard
and one of its most important players, fitting in and improving the team even
when Carmelo demanded the ball in the post and Smith was chucking
three-pointers while falling out of bounds and Dolan was making announcements
to the press and then slumping out of the room, like always. And he was
smiling all the way, a beacon of normalcy, sanity, and joy amidst the typical
Knicks chaos.


可是Lin……Lin不一樣。Lin並非Dolan炒作下的產物，並非在我們選擇範圍內最好
的浮士德式魔鬼交易，不得不為其歡呼。Lin徹底屬於我們，他突然從天而降，是
一股出於某種未知原因超乎於尼克例行故障麻煩之外的風暴熱潮。我們發現了他，
Lin替尼克球迷──與麥迪遜花園帶來無限狂熱──正如廣大球迷回報給他的熱情。

沒有人能像這孩子一樣引爆麥迪遜花園廣場。即使D'Antoni離開，MSG的瘋狂行徑和
Carmelo不可避免地從他身上奪走了幾分光芒，Lin並未離去。他鞏固了自己身為隊
上最佳控衛及重要球員之一的地位，融入並幫助球隊進步。即使Carmelo在後場要球
、J.R. Smith滑出場外同時濫投3分、Dolan一如往常對媒體發完聲明稿後隨即走人，
Lin始終面露微笑，宛如一座燈塔般在典型的尼克混亂中恆保正常、理智和喜悅。


Lin was special. And it made us all feel special. It made us all feel lucky
to get to watch it.


Lin很特別。他也讓我們感覺到自己同樣很特別，很幸運有機會躬逢其盛。


Lin may return this year, and he'll probably return next year —the Knicks
would be fools not to match any offer for him, for marketing reasons alone—
 and we'll have more great Lin moments. But we will never forget those
glorious two weeks, when the best story in sports was happening right here,
when we had our own superstar emerge, in front of our eyes, in the best
possible way. This isn't how it was supposed to end. But then again, it's not
over.


Lin今年還有機會再上場，明年也可能重返尼克──單從商業觀點來看，不跟進
別隊任何報價都會顯得尼克愚不可及──我們將擁有更多Lin的精彩演出。但
我們永遠不會忘記那光彩奪目的兩星期，見證體育界最棒的故事在紐約誕生，
專屬於我們的超級巨星用最棒的方式出現在我們眼前。

負傷暫別不是這個故事該有的結局。話說回來，故事尚未結束。






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◆ From: 118.169.32.16
※ 編輯: shadowydark     來自: 118.169.32.16        (04/06 00:31)
※ 編輯: shadowydark     來自: 118.169.32.16        (04/06 00:33)

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※ 作者: kulinomi  時間: 2012-04-06 02:45:58  來自: 220-132-134-22.HINET-IP.hinet.net